[XIV. Entry into the City]
[Entering the Town]
51-80 ≠ Mhv 42-65
At daybreak the King sent the driver, yoked the chariot, and said: “Go quickly to mount Missaka and lead those Elders here.”
He yoked and drove the chariot and put it aside at mount Missaka, and having worshipped the Supreme Elder, he said to them: “Mount the chariot, and let us go to the city.”
“We do not mount chariots, you go and we will follow after you.”
After saying this and sending the driver away with good wishes, Geiger misinterprets this, even parsing the compound wrongly. It should be
On that place where the Elders first crossed over, a Shrine was made, so it is said today, and therefore it is called the First Shrine.
Having dismissed the driver, the King had a pavilion made in the inner residence having a decorated canopy. These two additional lines seem to only repeat what is said in verse 58 below, and one wonders whether they were meant to replace them?
Having heard from the King of the Elders’ virtues, all the women in the harem desired to see the Elders, therefore the Lord of the World had a delightful pavilion made inside the Royal Grounds, covered and decorated with white cloth and flowers.
Having heard in the presence of the Elder that they had given up using high seats he had a doubt: ‘Can the Elder sit down on a high seat or not?’
The driver, who was thinking about this, went to the door of the First Shrine, and having seen the Elders standing in that place, and putting on their robes, was greatly surprised in mind, and after going to the King announced: “They are coming, God-King.”
The King, after questioning the driver, said: “Look here, did the Elders stand in the chariot or did they all come to the city on foot?”
“They did not mount the chariot, God-King, but following me they came and are now in front of the western door.”
Having heard that, he said: “Now, these Noble ones do not desire to sit on chairs, therefore it is good to spread out a cover on the floor,” and having gone in front he respectfully worshipped the Elders, taking the Great Elder Mahinda’s bowl from his hand, and with manifold respect and worship he led the Elder to the city.
Having seen the designated seats the fortune-tellers predicted: “Having taken the ground, they will be Lords of this Island.”
The Lord of Men brought those Elders to the noble harem, and having seen the prepared seat, the Elder thought thus: ‘The noble Dispensation of the Teacher has been established in the Island of Laṅkā, having spread a cloth on the earth it will remain.’
They sat down there on the cloth seat, according to their worth, It means that they sat in line according to their seniority. and the King himself satisfied them with rice-gruel, staple and non-staple foods, and at the conclusion of his duties concerning the meal he himself sat down nearby.
He had his younger Brother, the deputy King Mahānāga’s wife, Anulā, who resided in the Royal Palace, summoned and said: “Pay your respects and worship in front of these.”
Queen Anulā came with five hundred women and worshipped and honoured the Elders and took a seat on one side.
At the end of the meal duties, raining Dhamma-jewels down on the King, the Queen, the women and the multitude, the Wise One taught the Ghosts Stories and the Divine Mansions, and also the Thematic Discourses on Truth I.e Petavatthu (KN 7), Vimānavatthu (KN 6) and SN 56. to the assembled multitude, and having heard them five-hundred women attained the First Path and Fruit.
Having heard of the Elders’ virtues from those who had seen them on the previous day many of the city-folk gathered desiring to see the Elders, and made a loud noise all around the King’s Gates.
The King, having heard the commotion, questioned them and understood, and the Lord of the World, after giving orders to his ministers, said this: “Here they are all crowded together, clean up the State Elephant’s stall and the city-folk can see the Elders there.”
Having cleaned up the Elephant stall and quickly decorated it with canopies and so on, they prepared the seats according to their worth, and after going there and sitting down on the seat the Elder, the Great Preacher, preached the Discourse on the Divine Messengers. MN 130. As Mahādeva did in Mahisamaṇḍala above, v. 33.
Having heard it, the city-folk who had gathered round, gained faith, but a thousand breathing beings attained the First Path and Fruit.
In the Island of Laṅkā, he who was like the Teacher, the incomparable Elder, resolved on the good of Laṅkā in two places. After speaking on Dhamma in the language of the Island he thus made the True Dhamma descend on the Island of Light.
Written for the Faith and Invigoration of Good People
The Fourteenth Chapter in the Great Lineage called
Entry into the City